October 31, 2005
12:45 PM (EST)

News Release Number: STScI-2005-19

NASA's Hubble Reveals Possible New Moons Around Pluto

October 31, 2005: NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has spotted two possible new moons
orbiting Pluto, the ninth planet in our solar system. If confirmed,
the candidate moons could provide new insight into the nature and
evolution of the Pluto system and the early Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper
Belt is a vast region of icy, rocky bodies beyond Neptune's orbit.

These Hubble Space Telescope images reveal Pluto, its large moon
Charon, and the planet's two new candidate satellites. Between
May 15 and May 18, 2005, Charon, and the putative moons all appear
to rotate counterclockwise around Pluto.